Record your family history at library

Library users in the Plum Creek Library System region know that more than books can be checked out from the library. Movies, games, puzzles, and more can be found at public libraries, and now recording kits can be checked out from your local library.
The goal of the new recording kits is to help families document the stories of their loved ones in either video or audio formats.
“We chose to develop the audio and video history kits to provide a means of recording history and cultural events for our library patrons, and are pleased to be able to make available this equipment to each of the 26 libraries in the nine-county Plum Creek Library System (PCLS),” Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund program coordinator Rebecca Hudson explains. ”In addition to the kits being used for recording family histories, our libraries are encouraged to partner with their local historical societies, schools, and other organizations to preserve pieces of their local culture and history.”
The kits contain everything needed to produce a superior-quality recording and can be checked out with a library card from any of the member PCLS libraries. The video kits include a camera, white and green backdrops, microphones, and lighting accessories, while the audio kits have a digital stereo recorder, noise reduction accessories, and an external microphone. The equipment included in each kit was selected by staff from PCLS and Marshall Lyon County Library with the objective of being easy to use and of producing quality recordings. Library users can make recordings, and download them to their personal computers.
Local history and family stories are an important part of the cultural heritage of Southwest Minnesota, and libraries want to help preserve that cultural heritage before it disappears. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.